Agnes Banks Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion - Determination to make a minor amendment to Part 3 of Schedule 1 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act

The Scientific Committee, established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act, has made a Determination to make a minor amendment to Part 3 of Schedule 1 (Endangered ecological communities) of the Act by inserting the Agnes Banks Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion (as described in the determination of the Scientific Committee under Division 5 Part 2) and as a consequence to omit reference to the Agnes Banks Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion (as described in the final determination to list the ecological community) which was published on pages 11799 to 11803 in the NSW Government Gazette No. 148 dated 17 November 2000. Minor amendments to the Schedules are provided for by Division 5 of Part 2 of the Act.

The Scientific Committee is of the opinion that the amendment is necessary or desirable to correct minor errors or omissions in the Determination in relation to the Thackway and Cresswell (1995) reference.

This determination has been superseded by the 2015 Determination (Critically endangered ecological community listing).

NSW Scientific Committee - final determination

The Scientific Committee has found that:

1. The Agnes Banks Woodland is the name given to the plant community from the local government area of Penrith (within the Sydney Basin Bioregion) that is characterised by the following assemblage of species:

2. The total species list of the community is considerably larger than that given in 1 (above), with many species present in only one or two sites or in very small quantity. In any particular site not all of the assemblage listed in 1 may be present. At any one time, seeds of some species may only be present in the soil seed bank with no above-ground individuals present. The species composition of the site will be influenced by the size of the site and by its recent disturbance history. The number of species and the above-ground composition of species will change with time since fire, and may also change in response to changes in fire frequency. A more complete plant species list is in James McDougall & Benson (1999)

3. Agnes Banks Woodland has been recorded from the local government area of Penrith (within the Sydney Basin Bioregion). Bioregions are defined in Thackway and Cresswell (1995).

4. Agnes Banks Woodland is a low woodland dominated by Eucalyptus sclerophylla and  Angophora bakeri with a diverse understorey of sclerophyllous shrubs species including  Banksia oblongifolia, Conospermum taxifolium, Leptospermum trinervium, Dillwynia sericea, Monotoca scoparia and  Persoonia nutans, and ground stratum species including  Lepidosperma urophorum, Platysace ericiodes, Pimelea linifolia, Mitrasacme polymorpha, Trachymene incisa and  Stylidium graminifolium.

5. Agnes Banks Woodland is restricted to small areas of sand dunes overlying Tertiary Alluvium at Agnes Banks on the east bank of the Hawkesbury River. In low-lying, poorly drained areas it grades into Castlereagh Ironbark Forest. On higher ground where the aeolian sand deposits overly sandy alluvial soils the transition is to Castlereagh Scribbly Gum Woodland to which it is floristically related.

6. The vegetation of Agnes Banks Woodland is described in Benson (1992), James (1997) and National Parks and Wildlife Service Threatened Species Unit (2000).

7. Significant plant species for Agnes Banks Woodland include Dillwynia tenuifolia, Persoonia nutans, Acacia bynoeana, Banksia aemula, Lepidosperma longitudinale, Dillwynia glaberrima, Xyris complanata, Thelymitra aristata and  Baloskion pallens (James 1997).

8. Agnes Banks Woodland has been extensively cleared for sand extraction and the community has limited representation in Agnes Banks Nature Reserve. It originally extended over about 2000 ha of which about 80 ha or 4% still survived in 1997 (NPWS Threatened Species Unit 2000). Remnants are threatened with further sand extraction and clearing for rural and rural residential development, as well as other indirect threats associated with proximity to rural, rural residential and sand extraction areas.

9. In view of the small size of existing remnants, and the threat of further clearing and disturbance, the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that Agnes Banks Woodland in the Sydney Basin Bioregion is likely to become extinct in nature in New South Wales unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival or evolutionary development cease to operate and that listing as an endangered ecological community is warranted.

Dr Richard Major
Chairperson
Scientific Committee

Proposed Gazettal date: 14/10/11
Exhibition period: 14/10/11 - 19/12/11

Note this ecological community was originally listed in 2000 as indicated in the determination

References:

Benson DH (1992) The natural vegetation of the Penrith 1:100 000 map sheet. Cunninghamia 2(4): 541-596.

James T (1997) Native flora in Western Sydney: Urban Bushland Biodiversity Survey (NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service).

James T, McDougall L, Benson D (1999) Rare Bushland plants of Western Sydney. (Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney).

NPWS Threatened Species Unit (2000) Interpretation guidelines for the native vegetation maps of the Cumberland Plain, Western Sydney. (NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service).

Thackway R, Cresswell ID (1995) An interim biogeographic regionalisation for Australia: a framework for setting priorities in the National Reserves System Cooperative Program. (Version 4.0. Australian Nature Conservation Agency: Canberra.)